DALLAS (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 33 points and the Denver Nuggets held on for a 118-109 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, who were without Cooper Flagg for the second half after the rookie No. 1 overall pick sprained his left ankle Wednesday night.
The Nuggets were comfortably in front when Flagg turned the ankle as he stumbled to the court when he was called for a foul while defending Peyton Watson with 6:01 remaining in the second quarter.
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Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) avoids the defense of Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) while preparing to take a shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson, left, and Denver Nuggets guard Bruce Brown scramble on a free throw by the Nuggets during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, right, goes up for a basket against Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray drives to the basket against the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Flagg limped to the locker room, but returned and played the final 2:35 before the break. He didn't come out for the second half before the announcement that he was done for the night. The 19-year-old former Duke standout scored six points in 15 minutes.
Aaron Gordon had 22 points and Watson added 18 for Denver.
Naji Marshall scored 24 points and Brandon Williams had 20 for Dallas, which shot a season-worst 14.7% from 3-point range (5 of 34).
Dallas had trimmed a 23-point deficit to five early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer from rookie Ryan Nembhard when former Maverick Tim Hardaway answered with a 3 to start a 13-2 run that put Denver in front 101-85. Murray capped the run with a 3.
The Mavericks got back within six in the final 1:12 before Murray hit a jumper just above the free-throw line and Gordon hit two free throws.
The Mavericks ruled out Daniel Gafford in the second half with a right ankle sprain that has bothered the starting center most of the season.
The Dallas frontcourt was already missing 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis and Dereck Lively II. Davis is expected to miss about six weeks with ligament damage in his left hand. Lively is out for the season following foot surgery.
Nuggets: Washington visits Saturday to start a three-game homestand.
Mavericks: The first of consecutive home games against Utah is Thursday.
AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA
Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) avoids the defense of Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) while preparing to take a shot during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dallas Mavericks guard Klay Thompson, left, and Denver Nuggets guard Bruce Brown scramble on a free throw by the Nuggets during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, right, goes up for a basket against Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray drives to the basket against the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Donald Trump is set to meet Thursday at the White House with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose political party is widely considered to have won 2024 elections rejected by then-President Nicolás Maduro before the United States captured him in an audacious military raid this month.
Less than two weeks after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges, Trump will host the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Machado, having already dismissed her credibility to run Venezuela and raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in the country.
“She’s a very nice woman,” Trump told Reuters in an interview about Machado. “I’ve seen her on television. I think we’re just going to talk basics.”
The meeting comes as Trump and his top advisers have signaled their willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president and along with others in the deposed leader's inner circle remain in charge of day-to-day governmental operations.
Rodríguez herself has adopted a less strident position toward Trump and his “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, saying she plans to continue releasing prisoners detained under Maduro — a move reportedly made at the behest of the Trump administration. Venezuela released several Americans this week.
Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.
“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump told reporters. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”
In endorsing Rodríguez, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key advisers like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a political gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.
Despite her alliance with Republicans, Trump was quick to snub her following Maduro’s capture. Just hours afterward, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”
Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, which Trump coveted. She has since thanked Trump and offered to share the prize with him, a move that has been rejected by the Nobel Institute.
Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.
The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the non-governmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.
A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.
Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.
Janetsky reported from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)
